CARLOS HERRERA

Carlos Herrera, is a member of the Board of Directors of SkyLIFE who also joined General Motors’ Legal Staff in August, 2014 as Chief Intellectual Property Counsel. In this role, Carlos leads the GM’s global intellectual property affairs, including counseling, litigation support, patent and trademark matters, and other complex business transactions to drive competitive advantage through intellectual property. Carlos is also the General Counsel for GMGTO (Global Technology Operations) and the Executive Champion of Operation Excellence for the Legal Staff.

Carlos has five years of engineering experience with Rockwell and Boeing designing airplanes and over twenty years of intellectual property legal experience with a wide range of international and global experience in all IP matters with top tier Global Fortune 500 Companies. He has served as Chairman of the Board for an IP Holding Company in Switzerland reducing tax liability and maximizing efficiency in managing IP assets through strategic global protection and enforcement of IP rights. He has a long track record as an accomplished corporate strategist, creating and implementing best practices, assessing risks and developing mitigating strategies, and creating monetization opportunities in Europe, Latin America and Asia in line with business initiatives.

Carlos has received many outstanding leadership achievement awards in his role as an Engineer and Lawyer. He has been actively involved in NSHMBA (National Society of Hispanic MBAs) activities the NHCC (National Hispanic Corporate Counsel) Corporate Executive Development Program in partnership with SMU (Southern Method University) Cox Executive Education as a mentor and advisor to high-level managers and directors of fortune 100 companies. He has made voluntary appearances on The Business Blackboard Toledo, a business and economic radio show supporting NW Ohio and SE Michigan spotlighting developments in the region relating to invention, innovation, job creation and industrial activity. Although new to Michigan, Carlos was most recently nominated as a finalist in the General Counsel of the Year award for the over $1 Billion – public company in Michigan category for 2015.

Carlos holds an undergraduate degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and his J.D. from the University of Toledo. Born in Cuba, married with two children, and recreational pilot and sailor.